Number One Guardian
by ye'oldsoomin
Summary: June seventeenth was a day that held a mentally wounding death. But what would have happened if the victim wasn't Masaki Kurosaki?
1. Guard

Number One Guardian

* * *

It was that time again. Two weeks and three days into June with school just about to end for summer break. It has been six years since that day and nothing will make them forget. Tomorrow, they'll take a break to visit a grave with their usual antics. Yuzu and Karin will be off from school along with Isshin off from work.

Isshin always did have too much energy. He would scream directions and chores to his daughters. Then he and Karin will argue over the most pointless things such as positions and rank while Yuzu tried her best to stop their fighting. It was a normal routine for their family.

The usual will happen. With Yuzu cooking and Karin doing most of the heavy work, a picnic will take place and a game would be to cheer up the mood (no matter how much the girls thought how wrong it was) right after they clean up the grave. It'll all start tomorrow. The anniversary of the death of Kurosaki Ichigo.

-------------(divide)-------------

"Okaa-san! We're almost there!" her daughters yelled. A generous smile appeared on the mother's face as she walked further up the hill. The sisters looked at each other with worried faces. Every time their mother wore that smile, they knew it was fake. They all knew she wore to hide her negative emotions. It must have pained her, but the family spoke none of it. The father was soon kicked down the hill for being the lunatic father he was by Karin.

"Masaaaaaaaaaaki!" her husband shouted as he rolled down the hill with tears flowing from his eyes. At times like these, she wonder why she even married that old goat.

Another turn, she would reach the grave yard. The sun was scorching the air around her. Tears threaten to fall from her eyes as she moved forward towards her son's grave. The twins would follow after her and the father will somehow appear suddenly and trail after the women.

_Two rows up, fifth grave from the right. _Masaki directed in her head. After all the trips she made to the grave, she could have made it there blindfolded. She could already feel Yuzu crying from behind with Karin trying to comfort her. Isshin would again disappear leaving her alone to face her son.

"Ichigo, it's me again," she whispered to the grave. At this point, she didn't hold back. Tears ran down her face as she touched the grave. Memories of rain and blood flowed into her mind. Her daughters assisted her with cleaning the grave and left to leave their mother praying in peace. Silence stood between mother and son.

"I'm sorry Ichigo. I-I feel so useless right now. Every time I think about it, I always seem to blame myself for all of this. I don't know what happened down there. I should have told you about Hollows and why you could see ghosts. I'm sorry," she confessed. Some words were lost to her crying as she gasped for breath. She felt Ichigo himself was watching her as she prayed. But she knew it wasn't possible. He's in Soul Society now and probably won't be coming back for a long time.

"You know, he never blamed you," a voiced assured. Masaki didn't even bothered to look up. She new Isshin was behind her. He always was when she was like this.

"I know, but I can't help feeling it was all my fault," she admitted, still not raising her head to meet her husband's eyes. The smell of smoke from a cigarette filled her senses as she suddenly looked up and saw that her husband was smoking.

"I thought you quit," she questioned.

"I did, but I just remembered that smoking was one of the things you thought made me look cool," he smiled. Masaki smiled at her husband and looked at the grave a final time.

"Do you think, he's watching us right now?" she asked, not removing her gaze from the grave.

For once, Isshin had nothing to say. He knew whether comforting her or telling the his opinion would both result in an upset Masaki. He took a long drag and blew out the toxic smoke and finally figured an answer.

"Not sure, but if he is, then he'll probably knock me senseless," he said.

The mourning mother looked up at him. At this point, Isshin couldn't resist a smile.

"We made a promise that if I ever made you sad, he would kill me. Said he was you protector or something," he explained and walked away to let his wife think about his words.

Slowly, a smile appeared on her face. A genuine smile. She looked up to the clear sky and whispered a very soft, "Thank you". And for a quick moment, a soft whispered came from the forest ahead answering, "I'm the number one guardian, aren't I?"


	2. Protect

Number One Guardian

* * *

"Oh dear, what a bad car," a motherly voice said. A boy with bright orange hair had just splashed water at a boy with orange hair. The child looked at his mom as she cleaned her up.

"Are you alright?" she asked while taking out a tissue. Her son murmured a "yes" as he cleaned him up. She apologized for getting him wet and offered to switch sides with him.

"It's fine. I'll be okay. I'm wearing a rain coat, so I'm fine. I'll protect you from cars like that one," he argued. The mother couldn't help but smile as her son said those words. He was already living up to him name. But she couldn't let him get splashed like that the whole trip.

"How generous! But until you can beat Tatsuki in at least once in a match, I can't let you take the road side," she smiled. The young boy wouldn't give up. But she refused to let him take the road side. Once he was clean, she stood back up and continued their trip back home.

"Okaa-san, can I hold your hand?" the young boy asked.

"Of course," she agreed and let out her hand to hold.

_Don't let go. _

Mother and son continued walking. The son still smiling and the mother gracious that she had a son like her own. As they walked, a conversation was made and would have continued on if the young boy didn't have the ability to see spirits.

"Hold on a second!" he yelled as he let go of her hand.

_Why did you let go?_

"Ichigo?" she asked after the boy. She saw he was running towards the river. He was running very quickly, all to save an illusion. The mother yelled after him to catch him. The boy reached out his hand to grasp nothing but air. Something then rammed into him. And that was the last thing he ever saw in the world of the living.

_Why? Why him? WHY!_

------(divide)---------------

The mother woke up in cold sweat. Only a day had passed since the funeral and she was already dreaming about that day. Her heart swelled up as she thought more about the dream. She slowly climbed out of bed and went down stairs to calm herself.

On the stove was a kettle and the mother sat at the table alone, thinking more about her son.

"You should really try a smoke; they can calm your nerves," a tired voice said behind her.

"I probably would, if this wasn't a hospital," she said as she prepared two cups of coffee. The two talked calmly to each other for a few hours, not caring that they would be sleeping in tomorrow. Laughs and giggles filled the room and it seemed that Isshin had succeeded in calming his wife's nerves.

They smiled at each other once more before they got up and returned to bed. But as usual, nothing would have gone normally. A Hollow had appeared in front of their hospital.

"Isshin! The children!" Masaki screamed. The father gotten the message and ran to reach for his Shinigami badge. The hollow was getting closer now at a frightening speed. Thoughts rushed in Masaki's head. She didn't know why she did it, but she did. The door was left open when Isshin was out of his body. He ran faster, worrying about his wife.

The Hollow must have been at least the height of the hospital itself. The spiritual pressure paralyzed the mother the moment she faced the monster. At this point, she knew she made a dumb decision.

It growled at the sight of the woman. Sylvia dropped from his mouth as he stepped closer towards her. She closed her eyes as its mouth opened.

_I'm sorry. Ichigo, please be there waiting for me._

"Getsuga Tensho!" A wave of blue energy erupted from an oversize sword and eliminated the Hollow in the process. The mother's eyes opened to see a bush of orange in front of her.

"It can't be," she whispered. The words barely forming. Amber eyes looked back in surprised and the body disappeared in a flash.

"Wait!" she yelled. Isshin finally arrived, only to see the mother in on her knees, her hand reaching out to open air.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(divide)------------------------------------

"I successfully destroyed the Hollow. There was no problem at all," the lieutenant reported. The sickly captain nodded at his report and dismissed him away.

"Captain, I have one request if I could make," the teen added.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked.

"May I have all missions in that area?" his lieutenant requested. Ukitake widen his eyes in surprised. This boy had never shown this much interest in one area. This would also mean he would be a lieutenant short again. Nevertheless, his eyes shown he would do so without his permission. The old captain sighed, but agreed to his proposition.

"Thank you captain," he bowed and walked out.

"Wait lieutenant, tell me this. Why do you want to do this?"

Without looking back, the orange haired shinigami answered, "I'm the number one guardian of that town. So I have to protect it, don't I?" he asked before finally leaving the captain to ponder on his words.

The white haired captain sighed and smiled as he saw him leave.

_Kurosaki, you are a kind soul indeed._


End file.
